Biggs: 10 thoughts after Bears' comeback win

October 29, 2012|By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter

Ten thoughts after the Chicago Bears’ 23-22 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday that keeps them in sole possession of first place atop the NFC North at 6-1, the second-best record in the conference.

1. Lovie Smith has said at least three times this season the Bears need to get the return game going, an expectation created by the record-setting career of Devin Hester.

But Hester doesn’t have to score touchdowns on returns if the defense keeps getting in the end zone. That's what happened as Tim Jennings’ 25-yard interception return gave the Bears a 20-19 lead with 6:44 remaining and proved to be a game-changing play when things looked bleak.

The first touchdown of Jennings’ NFL career was the sixth interception return for a score this season for the Bears, breaking the team record of five set in 2004 when Smith was just installing his defense in his first season as coach. It is two more touchdown returns than the Bears had as a defense all of last season. The defense now has 10 interception returns for touchdowns in the last 20 games dating to the Week 4 meeting with the Panthers a year ago when D.J. Moore had a 20-yard return for a score in a 34-29 victory over the Panthers. Charles Tillman has four, Major Wright and Lance Briggs have two each and Jennings and Moore have one apiece in the last 20 games.

Randall Liu of the NFL office reports the six interception returns for scores this season is an NFL record through seven games, and the season record is within reach. The San Diego Chargers had nine interception returns for touchdowns in 1961, and the Seattle Seahawks had eight in 1998. The Seahawks and St. Louis Rams both have had seven in a season.

“The sky is the limit,” Tillman said. “When you set a number, you set your standard low. I don’t want to set my standard low. There is no limit. We’re gonna turn it up. It is remarkable.”

The Bears lead the NFL with 16 interceptions, putting them on pace for 36.5. The club record is 37 set in 1937 during a 12-game season. The NFL record is 49 by the Chargers in 1961.

But as Tillman said, what is remarkable about the Bears’ defense is the scoring. The team has six rushing touchdowns, six defensive touchdowns and nine passing touchdowns.

“As you look at it you can be surprised but if you guys watch our practices that's what we do each and every time we get our hands on the ball,” Jennings said. “We want to score with it. We're getting opportunties: Peanut, Lance Briggs, Major, myself, we're gettng a lot of opportunities to score and that's been our mentality, that's been our focus all week.

“Everybody else was scoring and I felt left out but I was able to get one. We knew that if we got our hands on the ball we had to score. That's been our mentality all season. I was able to be in the right position and make a play.”

Tillman didn’t want to set any goals and neither does Jennings.

“I know we have plenty more games,” he said. “I am gonna have plenty more opportunities. I just have to stay on it, keep working and finish the season strong.”

2. The offensive line has been up and down, so it’s no surprise there was a little bit of everything in this performance. Some good running holes for Matt Forte, including a fine block by left tackle J’Marcus Webb pulling through the hole to take out linebacker James Anderson on the 13-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The pocket was clean with the game on the line in the fourth quarter on the winning field goal drive.

There also were the six sacks of quarterback Jay Cutler in the first half as the Bears made Panthers left end Greg Hardy look like a feared pass rusher. He had a career day with three sacks. Defensive end Charles Johnson, signed to a $76 million contract in 2011 to boost a pass rush in need of help a year after the loss of Julius Peppers, also had two sacks. Left guard Chilo Rachal struggled. There were breakdowns across the board and Cutler is to blame also for holding the ball too long. The Bears lost 55 yards on six sacks, a sign Cutler was dropping back too far. If you recall, Craig Krenzel did the same in 2004, taking sacks for double-digit losses in yardage. Cutler's sacks were for losses of seven, 11, eight, four, seven and eight yards. One came on a screen play. When a screen doesn’t materialize, throw the ball away.

The line has to be more dependable and that is always going to be the case when the team has allowed 25 sacks, third-most in the NFL. The Bears struggled because the Panthers were slanting their line.

“They had some wrinkles , we knew what they were doing we just were not reacting well to it," right tackle Gabe Carimi said. "I am not going to give excuses for us. We should be able to do whatever. Whatever they had for us, we should have been able to handle.”